The Rescue on Mardaxxia
by SpartAl412
Summary: When the Governor of an Imperial world is kidnapped by the Dark Eldar, it becomes up to the Death Watch to launch a rescue mission but soon thing prove not to be as they seem.


Slowly opening his eyes which were covered by the red-eye lenses of his helmet, Sergeant Cassius finished his prayers to the Emperor. Slowly shifting his head to look upon the rest of his squad, he saw that each of his battle brothers wore the black armor of their new Chapter. Each one bore a single pauldron which marked their chapter of origin while the other bore the sigil of the Inquisition, of the Ordo Xenos, the sigil of the Death Watch. Each man now stood within a spacious drop pod aboard The Mandate of Purgation as they prepared for their next deployment.

To his left was Tactical Brother Hieroclis of the Iron Snakes, in his gauntleted hands he carried a Stalker Pattern Bolter. Then there was Devastator Brother Antheon of the Ultramarines who wielded a Heavy Bolter. To the left of Cassius was Apothecary Lorinius of the White Consuls who wielded a chain sword and bolt pistol of which were holstered by his side.

Then much to the disdain of Cassius, there was Rjorn the Space Wolf of whom was the only one without a helmet and the lout was actually drinking alcohol as they waited. Like many of his original brethren amongst the Dark Angels, Cassius disdained the wild and unruly Space Wolves and Rjorn whose regular insubordination was simply tiresome to the sergeant.

As the wolf ignored Cassius, the Dark Angel turned his mind to the mission ahead. About three Terran weeks earlier, the Planetary Governor of Aegiria IX, one Reginald Calastus had been abducted by xenos pirates while on some sort of official function. Specifically, the Governor had been taken by the cruel and depraved Dark Eldar.

According to what information Cassius had learned, the foul xenos had taken the Governor hostage and already were making demands in flesh, a demand which the Imperium would never give. The life of the Governor was deemed to be of high importance by the Inquisition for the planets within the Aegiria system were rife with political intrigues. If the Governor's life were to end if he were gone for too long, then the political strife and infighting which would follow within the system would be disastrous for not only the Aegiria system but for the greater Imperium as the system was an important bulwark in the defenses of Segmentum Ultima.

Already, agents of the Ordo Xenos have tracked the Governor and his captors through psychic witchery to the Ork infested world of Mardakka, of which had once been an Imperial world called Mardaxxia. According to reports from the Inquisition, Mardakka was home to many Orks of the Blood Axe tribe, a particularly devious and unusual culture of greenskins who actually adopted a number of the Imperium's own tactics and strategies. Over the centuries, Cassius himself had many dangerous encounters with their Kommandos and Freebooters.

Upon the HUD of his helmet, information was being fed to his armor's machine spirit in regards to details of the mission. They would be dropped a few miles southwest of where the Governor was supposedly being held. Then they would make their way in as quickly as they could and rescue the governor while using a teleportation beacon which the apothecary carried, in the event the Governor was dead however, then the mission would become one of retribution.

'Squad Nicarus, prepare to drop in thirty seconds' came the monotonous voice of a servitor through the Vox units within their power armour. A unified series of confirmations were voiced by the Marines and Cassius closed his eyes again as he whispered a quiet prayer to the Emperor.

Although he had been in numerous drops over the years, he held no illusion that one mistake was all that was needed for them to be shot into oblivion.

'I hope those orks have some of their Nobz' said Rjorn in a tone which was filled with his usual bravado as he calmly held the bottom of his power axe 'at least with those greenskins you can expect something close to a good fight'

'Remember that the orks are not our mission, brother' reminded Cassius with his eyes still closed as he felt a bit of bile in his throat when he said the last part. The Space Wolf was about to reply something, but the voice of the servitor came again and announced that they would drop in ten seconds.

The metallic harnesses gently came down it latched on to their armor. He mentally counted to ten and in the exact moment, he felt the sudden movement as the Drop Pod was launched from the ship. Feeling the intense vibration as the Drop Pod made its way down towards the planet, he reflected on his previous dealings with the ork menace and the vile Dark Eldar.

It was possible that the devious xenos were working together with the greenskins for they were as manipulative and deceitful as the so-called Craftworld Eldar. It seemed quite likely for the orks of the Blood Axe tribe have been known to work as sell their services as mercenaries to other species like the kroot or the Ioxatl. There was also the possibility that the Orks knew nothing of the Dark Eldar, if so then it was possible that they could have a three-way fight on their hands.

Whatever was the case, any alien that gets in their way would die for they were the Adeptus Astartes, the Angels of Death. Forged in blood and tempered in battle, they were demigods of war and proof of man's dominance over the stars. For they are the Space Marines, they are the Emperor's Fury and they knew no fear.

* * *

Lazily resting his chin upon his interlocked green fingers which were placed over the stock of the twin-linked big shoota turret, Wizik yawned with boredom. For days now he had been posted on a watch tower which had been set up to protect a thermal power generator. At first he had been ecstatic for this posting because it meant that he would have been away from main base and more importantly, away from those Death Skullz gitz and their big guns.

Oh how the gretchin now wished that he had something to shoot at, something to break the tedious boredom of his posting. The only living thing he had seen in the last few days was a nice plump squig which looked like it had a lot of meat on it. The zogging thing had quickly turned tail when Wizik tried to shoot at it, thus leaving the grot with nothing to eat but stale rations.

With his eyes growing heavy, the gretchin closed his eyes and yawned. When his eyes opened, he noticed things were a bit darker and yet he could see the sun was still just setting across the horizon. Confused at this, the gretchin looked up above him and his eyes widened in terror.

'oh zog' were the last words Wizik ever said before the heavy drop pod of the Death Watch crashed directly on top of the tower and obliterating the structure of wood which held up a rusty metal platform. When the hatches upon the sides of the drop pod descended, the squad of Space Marines emerged and they quickly surveyed their landing zone. Satisfied that the area was secure, the Alien Hunters quickly went on with their mission but not before planting a demolition charge which was timed to explode in ten minutes.

The Space Marines hardly acknowledged, nor would they even care for the bored Gretchin they had just crushed.

* * *

Taking point at the head of the squad, Cassius was armed with a power sword and a plasma pistol; both were potent relics which belonged to the Death Watch itself. The former weapon which was called Kraken's Bane had a long bloodied history of use against the Tyranids, especially those of the Genestealer strain which often inhabited Space Hulks. The Plasma Pistol on the other hand was Midea's Light, supposedly it was blessed by a Living Saint of the Adepta Sororitas and that the plasma bolts which were fired from the weapon were imbued with such hate for the greenskins that any ork slain by it would even have their foul spores vaporized.

Each of his squad-mates were also carrying powerful relics for such was the importance of their mission. Behind Cassius were Rjorn and then Lorinius while Hieroclis and Antheon flanked them with their guns readied. Each man kept his eyes and ears open as they looked towards the jungle around them, there were many places where traps could have been set or ambushes may lay in wait.

On the HUD of his helmet, Cassius glanced at the information being displayed. Some were rather minor or useless bits of information such as the temperature outside of his suit, the chemical contents within the air or the levels of ultraviolet radiation. There were some other useful things which appeared though for his the optics of his helmet's machine spirit were quick to analyze the terrain and it would highlight things such as foot prints there was even a small arrow which pointed to where and his squad should go and the distance to their target.

'Do we have any particular information about the xenos which took the governor?' came the voice of Hieroclis through a secure Vox-channel for his chapter, the Iron Snakes were more quite familiar in dealing with the piratical aliens.

'The Kabal of Dreadhearts, apparently' replied Rjorn while directly speaking to the Iron Snake as he lazily rested the haft of his axe over his right pauldron 'led by some Archon Zhalarena or something like that'

'Keep it down, Rjorn' growled Cassius with annoyance for he knew not if any aliens could be watching or listening to them.

'No greenskins nearby if that's what your worried about, lion' said the Space Wolf in a chiding manner 'If there were I would already have smelled them.'

Softly grunting underneath his helmet, Cassius swore that it seemed like the Space Wolf took every opportunity he could to annoy him. The only reason why he tolerated the wolf's attitude was because without a doubt, Rjorn was the best warrior in their squad when it came to melee. In the past, he had seen the Space Wolf go toe to toe with Orks in Mega Power Armour, Necron Lychguards and on one occasion he had even bested a Terminator-armored Chaos Marine while armored in the common Mark VII pattern power armour.

As much as he found the Space Wolf's behavior quite often annoying, he did at the least have a great measure of respect for the man' skill and would have no other to watch his back when the fighting start.

'Wait' suddenly came the voice of the Space Wolf as he began sniffing the air; already the squad became tense for they knew what that meant. 'Orks nearby… two groups' said the Wolf as he rolled his neck 'I think they are hunting each other'

'Typical barbarous beasts' muttered Antheon with disdain for it well-known that the greenskins had a tendency to turn on one another when no other threats were about.

'Remember our mission brother' Cassius then said 'we must conserve our ammunition, kill the xenos if they spot us.' Words of acknowledgement came from the rest of the squad and the Alien Hunters readied their weapons for the possibility of a fight.

* * *

Tightly holding on to the chain which was attached to the spike collar of the hunting squig in front of him, Morgut warily looked towards the jungle with eyes narrowed as he held up his kustom-made slugga pistol which had two barrels and it could fire a lot of bullets like a shoota. Some Death Skullz boyz had stolen his boss's jaw plate and run off like snotlings, when he found the sneaky gits he was going to eat their hearts one by one for causing to miss out on the big bludd-ball match which was now showing live from Charadon.

He hoped that the Deff Eadz won because he had bet a lot of teef on them; he had even paid a visit to a Wyrdboy for good luck. Feeling the tugging on the chain as the squig picked up a scent, the little beast began jumping up and down while barking excitedly. The other orks around Morgut quickly noticed the squig and they quickly hefted their guns and choppas in anticipation.

'Looks like tha lil bugga got somefing' noted Rugrog as he slammed a fresh ammo clip into his shoota gun.

'Well aint you kaptain obvius!' mocked a slugga boy named Gunzorz who wielded a large choppa which needed both hands to carry.

'Tha be admiral obvius ta you when we'ze goin up in spess' replied Rugrog who often talked about joining or starting up a Free Booter gang.

'Shut it ya gitz' growled Morgut as he cautiously allowed the squig to lead him while he looked about for any sign of the Death Skull thieves. At the corner of his eye, he noticed the heavy metal jaw plate of the boss's armor. Isn't that zogging peachy he thought with a bit of disappointment at the lack of a fight and relief so he could get back to the base and catch the game.

'Oi, aint that the bosses'?' asked Gunzorz as he continued to look around with suspicion.

'Aye it iz' replied Morgut who then commaned 'go an pick it up, then letz get back to da camp'

'I was opin fer a fight' grunted Rugrog with disappointment as well while Gunzorz obeyed. This was too easy thought Morgut, either the Death Skullz had just abandoned it or… With eyes widening in realization, Morgut was about to shout out a word of warning before a heavy barrage of shootas suddenly opened fire.

Gunzorz was cut down as several bullets tore through his body in a shower of blood, the shoota boy managed to squeeze of a quick burst of rounds before his mangled body fell into several pieces. Rugrog as well had been cut down by the same hail of fire which left his body all shredded up as if a pack of squigs had attacked him. Morgut on the other hand let loose a loud warcry as he let go of the squig's chain and he raised his twin barreled slugga pistol, he opened fired at the Death Skullz.

Morgut's defiance was brief and otherwise futile for in mere seconds, he too was completely obliterated by the hail of bullets. The squig Morgut had released had at the least, managed to avoid the hail of gunfire long enough to leap towards a Death Skull shoota boy and tear the ork's face off. The hunting squig was of course; quickly put down by the guns and choppas of the Death Skulls who then went about looting the body of their fallen clan member and afterwards, the three Blood Axes they killed.

As the Nob who led the Death Skullz began ordering his boyz to take what they could, he noticed something a bit unusual. He caught a glimpse of something shiny and golden behind the brush and he wondered what it was. Quickly ordering for one of his slugga boyz to check it out, the smaller Death Skull went ahead a bit eagerly. Suddenly, there was a loud dakka that went off and the slugga boyz's head exploded in a shower of blood.

A sudden barrage of dakka sounds as well as the muzzle flashes of gunfire emerged from the brush. Several of the orks who were busy stripping the bodies of anything useful soon found themselves cut to bloody gobbets. Ordering his boyz to attack, the nob saw three large creatures he quickly recognized as Space Marines emerge from the shadow. Glad that he had a power klaw equipped, the Nob was eager to loot their gubbinz of the umies.

'For the Emperor!' roared Antheon as his heavy bolter unleashed a punishing volley while his back pack fed more rounds into the mighty gun.

Charging ahead with Rjorn behind him, Cassius reached an axe wielding ork which raised its weapon for an overhead chop. The Dark Angel thrust his power sword forwards and the glowing blade caught the alien beast in the belly. Raising his sword up, Cassius quickly cut through the ork's guts and up to the ribcage and eventually out of to the top of its head in a shower of steaming blood.

The Space Wolf roared the name of the Primarch Leman Russ as his axe neatly severed the head of an ork while his bolt pistol killed another two. The Apothecary crashed into another pair of orks and with precision and skill, the White Consul stabbed an ork in the face with his chainsword while he drove the chainfist under his left gauntlet into the neck of another. Against the sudden and furious assault of the Death Watch, the few remaining orks quickly retreated from the ambush site; none of the aliens made it far for the reach of the Stalker Pattern Bolter in the hands of Hieroclis was long and deadly.

'Ha! A good ambush I say' laughed Rjorn as he easily pulled his axe out of the back of an ork which looked like it attempted to flee from the Alien Hunters.

* * *

'We must not tarry brothers' ordered Cassius and the Space Marines went back to their previous formation and after a quick check of their current stock of ammunition, they pressed on with their mission. For a few tense but rather uneventful hours, the Death Watch Marines passed by and evaded roving ork patrols as easily as a band of Scouts. As they traveled, the Vox-casters of their power armour, which was synchronized with the Mandate of Purgation above was feeding them information regarding local ork movements.

It seemed that there was a lot of ork movement going on near where the governor was being held. With more than a bit of worry, Cassius wondered if the greenskins were now battling the Dark Eldar, if this was so then what about the Governor? Ordering his squad to pick up the pace, the Space Marines obeyed and they began to jog through the brush of the jungle while following the coordinates given to them.

Eventually, they would find themselves upon the top of a hill overlooking a heavily deforested tract of land with several distant lights moving across the horizon. The countless rotting stumps of ancient trees eventually gave way to the foothills of a mountain where according to their HUDs, was the place the Governor was being held. Thanks to the nightvision of their helmets (which Rjorn was reluctant to put on) the Space Marines were able to pierce the darkness and in the distance they clearly saw several greenskins on the moving out.

Where were they going? Wondered the Dark Angel as he spent a long moment to observe the barbarous alien beasts. Speaking into his Vox-unit and consulting the crew operating the sensors of the Mandate, new information was soon appearing on his HUD and by some luck, it seemed that the orks were actually moving away from the site. Feeling a bit uneasy at how smoothly the mission was going, Cassius demanded another survey of where the greenskins were going.

Soon enough, more information began to appear on his HUD and it seemed that another ork tribe had mobilized its forces and launched an assault against one of the larger camp of the Blood Axes.

'It seems the Emperor is with us today' spoke Lorinius with a grateful tone.

'It can't be that easy' muttered Cassius; it was just too much of a coincidence that the orks which were just in their way were now leaving. 'Just stay alert brothers' was all Cassius said, his tone made it clear to the rest that they figuratively weren't out of the woods yet.

* * *

Peering down the scope of the Stalker Pattern Bolter Rifle, Hieroclis noted that the arrow on the compass of his HUD was pointing directly at the entrance of a cave with a fortified camp around it. Behind a crudely made wall of wood and metal, ork sentry towers with the word WAAAGHHH! were crudely painted upon wooden boards. How the greenskins even managed to use the alphabet of Imperial Gothic to spell out their common war cry was a mystery to him.

Regardless, all that stood in their way at the moment were gretchin guards manning the gun turrets on top of the towers. Although a sniper rifle would have been preferable for making a shot at long ranges such as this, he enjoyed the challenge of using his Stalker. Lining up a shot with a gretchin which began to pick at its nose, the Iron Snake swiftly calculated for the wind speed and the trajectory of his shot.

Slightly adjusting his aim, Hieroclis squeezed the trigger of his rifle and a bolt round flew out through the darkness. Switching to another target, he fired a single shot at a gretchin which was dozing off in its duty. By the time he fired his third shot, the first gretchin was struck in the head by the bolt round while the second was killed a second later, followed by the third and fourth which never even knew the first two were dead.

A fine shot thought Hieroclis with satisfaction as he grinned underneath his helmet. Contacting the rest of the squad, he gave them the all clear to go ahead while he himself would move forwards. Keeping one eye near the scope of his gun, he kept on raising his gun up to eye level and then lowering it until he saw a fifth gretchin was about to shriek in surprise at the sight of its dead kin.

The surprised gretchin was forever silenced for when a bolter round stuck its skull and splattered the aliens brains to the ground around it. As quietly as Assassins of the Officio Assasinorium, the Alien Hunters walked past the crude open gate of wood and rusted metal which had many skulls attached to it by crude ropes. Many of the skulls clearly belonged to greenskins but there were a few older ones which were of a human origin.

Giving a brief glance at one of the skulls, Hieroclis felt rage flare up within him as he looked towards the old piece of bone. He remembered that terrible battle against the Ork invasion which threatened the Reef Stars, a battle which cost the lives of many battle brothers. Were it up to him; this planet would have been targeted for Exterminatus the moment it had been conquered.

Then there were the _Primuls_ to deal with, perhaps the most evil and debased of xenos. Tightening his grip upon the handle of his bolter gun, the Iron Snake silently renewed an oath of vengeance against the aliens.

* * *

Having moved passed the gates of the camp, the squad of Death Watch Marines had found the small ork base as of being barely garrisoned. They had found a sixth gretchin incapacitated beside a what looked to be latrine, in its arms it held a large jug of something which probably may have been some sort of xenos drink. Without a second thought, Cassius crushed the drunken alien's skull with his boot before the Alien Hunters moved towards the entrance of the cavern where ruddy orange lights lit up the darkness ahead.

Glancing to the ground and notice what looked to be some crude sort of train-tracks, he guessed that this cave must be a mine. 'Stay focused brothers' was all Cassius said before they entered the tunnel with weapons at the ready. From his own bitter experience, cramped, confined places like this served as excellent places for ambushes to happen to the unwary, it would be just absolutely perfect he grimly thought if Genestealers were somehow inside.

The tunnel within the mine was large enough at first for something as big as a dreadnought to pass through, yet as they traveled further on though, they found that the tunnels were gradually getting bigger. Here and there, they found multiple signs that the mine may have once been used by humans such as pieces of machinery, the overall orderly design of the tunnels themselves and more grimly, the bones of the original miners.

The Dark Angel guessed that the miners who once worked and most likely even lived here had attempted to collapse the tunnels. He did not know if perhaps the miners managed to get out alive before they caused a cave-in or more darkly, if they ended up trapping themselves inside. A most horrible fate he thought, to be in utter darkness and waiting to die from starvation, thirst or the lack of air.

Through the HUD of their helmets, Cassius and the rest of his squad navigated the winding tunnels and soon they saw that the Governor's location was rather close by now. This would likely be the part where they run into a large group of Dark Eldar who would be on guard, or perhaps the aliens had some sort of trap waiting for them. Cassius mentally gave the Emperor a prayer and hoping that they would not end up being buried alive, the squad soon came upon a gate which greatly seemed out of place.

Wrought in dark metals with jagged spikes sticking out from the sides, a metallic double door which was decorated with grinning skulls barred their way. Quickly analyzing to see if there were any traps or sensors, Cassius could not be quite sure when it came to the Dark Eldar. Continuing to survey the door, he felt sure that it really couldn't just be a simple door with no deadly triggering mechanisms.

'What should we do now sir?' Antheon as he looked back with wariness.

'We breach the door' ordered the Dark Angel as he reached for a disc shaped explosive charge in his satchel. Thumbing the activation rune on the charge, he took a deep breath and hurled it at the door, the machine spirit with the device awakened and in mid-air; it readjusted itself to land between the sealed spaces of the door. As the device clung to the doors with a magnetic lock, Cassius counted to three before the charge detonated in a flash of Melta energy.

The temperature within the tunnel briefly and yet intensely rose to extreme levels before calming down. The heavy doors which were now reduced to molten slag had begun to drip and melt down to the hard earth. As a pall of steam and smoke-filled the air, the Alien Hunters caught sight of what lay ahead of them.

Past the door, they found what looked to be some sort of torture chamber where several greenskin bodies lay hanging upside down with their entrails hanging out and impaled upon cruel hooks. Racks of torture implements which looked freshly cleaned were placed on the sides of the walls while blood congealed under the butchered corpses. It was like walking into some horrific abattoir he thought with apprehension.

Hearing a soft moan ahead, the Space Marines lifted their guns and pointed at the source of the sound. Rjorn then removed his helmet and he began to sniff the air, 'blood' he then said 'and lots of it'. The Space Wolf then took point with the other following him.

Inside the tunnel, they found several signs of xenos habitation from beddings to tables and even an unpowered webway gate. Yet where were the Dark Eldar themselves? Could they be outside the mine and raiding greenskins? It seemed possible that they were working with one clan and aiding them in fighting another. If so, when will they be back?

As they followed Rjorn, they were eventually led to a wide holding chamber where several cages were strewn about. Within one of the cages, they saw a middle-aged, bald-headed, gaunt and haggard looking human man of whom was highlighted with a golden diamond upon the HUD of his helmet. It was Governor and he was alive!

'Lorinius, ready the beacon!' ordered Cassius and the Apothecary nodded as he pulled out a heavy-looking square-shaped device and he began tapping on the runes. Checking the other cages to see if there were any survivors from the Governor's entourage, Cassius found each to be empty. There was something was wrong here, he just knew it.

Rjorn was the first to make it to the Governor who gave a blank eyed looked to the Space Wolf of whom he barely even registered. With a mighty hack of his powered axe, Rjorn chopped through the lock on the cage around the Governor and the wolf opened the enclosure. At a closer look, Cassius could see that the Governor whose stately clothes were now torn and ragged seemed physically unharmed.

It was possible that the Dark Eldar had subjected the Governor to some form of mental torture. 'He's been drugged' growled Rjorn as he reached for the Governor who had a thin dribble of drool running down the front of his lower lip.

Calling to the Apothecary and ordering for medical assistance, Lorinius had just finished setting up the beacon which he gently placed upon the ground. As the White Consul took a few steps ahead, the Vox-units of the Space Marines quickly crackled to life and the sound of screaming came flooded the channel.

It was the terrified screams of men mixed with cries of agony as the sound of gunfire from autoguns and shotguns rang out. One man was shouting orders and trying to instill some order into whatever was going on but soon the man's words became a gurgling thing. Silence passed for only a brief moment before a series of dark, melodious laughs began to fill the channel.

'Did… Did the xenos just board the Mandate!?' came the shocked voice of Antheon.

'I… I do not know, we need to get up there at once!' commanded Cassius as he looked to Rjorn who picked up the Governor in one hand and he gave the Dark Angel a nod.

'Let's get back to the Mandate and-' said the Space Wolf who was suddenly interrupted

'There is little need for that my friends' came a rich and cultured masculine voice which spoke in perfect Low Gothic through their Vox-units.

'Who is this and how did you get on this channel!?' demanded Cassius with a mounting feeling of foreboding

'As much as I would love to exchange a greeting friend' replied the voice 'I am afraid that such pleasantry would be wasted, as of how I got on this channel, I suppose it should be obvious now, no?'

The Dark Eldar have the ship grimly thought Cassius, how could they have known where they were in orbit? The Mandate of Purgation was not a true warship, it was a covert vessel meant to quickly and quietly ferry Kill-Teams across the galaxy. The ship though was protected by Inquisitorial Stormtroopers as well as combat servitors, but to have taken it so quickly, the aliens must have hit it with overwhelming force.

'It seems that I must bid you farewell now friends' came the voice over the Vox again 'But worry not, you will have the pleasure of fine company quite soon.'

'Fine company?' Hieroclis asked a bit uneasily as he began scanning the area around the chamber of empty cages.

'Let's get the Governor out of here first, and then we figure out a plan on what to do next' said Cassius. Words of acknowledgment echoed amongst the marines and they began to regroup. Rjorn handed the Governor to Lorinius who began searching through his store of antidotes and medicines to combat the xenos drug.

As they headed out of chamber of cages, they saw a single slender finger waiting for them in the halls with cruel looking swords in both hands which glowed with a baleful light. Clad in a set of dark metal plate armour which was adorned with spikes and trims of dark purple, the xeno warrior wore a face concealing helmet which resembled the head of a dragon.

The Dark Eldar began to speak in its blasphemous tongue, its voice was feminine and had an aristocratic quality to it like the voice from the Vox. The alien witch then readied herself in what looked to be a defensive stance.

'Purge the alien!' roared Cassius as he raised his plasma pistol and opened fire at the alien while the rest of his squad did the same. A hail of bolter rounds from a heavy bolter, a Stalker pattern bolter gun and two bolt pistols as well as the bolts from the plasma gun were flying towards the witch who quickly strafed to her left. The alien witch was of course, extremely agile as their shots struck the hard earth and some of the metal cages.

The witch sprinted and leapt about as quickly as one of those garishly multi-coloured Eldar Harlequins. Trying to get a bead on the alien, he fired another shot which he thought was about to hit the witch but at the least moment, the alien weaved around it in mid-air. The witch began to draw closer and closer to them with both swords readied to strike.

Rjorn unleashed a fierce warcry in the native language of Fenris with the Dark Angel roaring his own. The two Space Marines rushed the Eldar with their own power weapons and the witch was coming right towards the two of them. Thrusting his sword forwards while Rjorn swung his axe low, the witch leapt to the right of Cassius and with a spin she was already behind him.

Thrusting his left elbow back and hoping that he caught the witch, he felt his arm hit nothing and he quickly turned back to see the witch was heading towards Antheon. The Devastor continued to unleash more rounds upon the witch but was soon forced to stop when the witch positioned herself between both the Ultramarine and Cassius himself. If Antheon took a shot and miss, there was a good chance that Cassius himself could get hit.

Hieroclis and Lorinius continued to fire at the witch and eventually, some their bolt rounds exploded in mid-air as they struck the energize sphere of a personal shield. With a loud curse, Cassius pointed his gun at the witch and he began to charge up his plasma pistol. Already the witch was close to Antheon who swung the side of his heavy bolter at the alien who easily weaved around the heavy bludgeon and she thrust her swords into stomach of the Ultramarine.

Antheon roared in pain and he brought his fist down on the alien who easily ducked underneath gauntlet as she tore her glowing weapons down and the blades cut through the meat and armor of Antheon until both weapons passed bellow his groin. The Ultramarine then collapsed and already the witch was moving towards Hieroclis.

As his plasma pistol was now fully charged up, Cassius quickly fired a power bolt of plasma energy which burned like a miniature sun. The bolt of energy nearly struck the running witch and instead it struck and exploded upon an empty cage behind and melting it. Moving towards the Iron Snake in an effort to help him, Hieroclis himself managed to hit the witch with two bolts which exploded upon the alien's shield before driving her power swords into his chest from beneath the front of his rib cage.

The Dark Eldar's laughter mocked them as she leapt off of the body of Hieroclis and she went towards Rjorn who fired three rounds from his bolt pistol which exploded harmlessly upon the shield. Rjorn then thrust his left knee towards the witch who in turn thrust one of her swords at the Space Wolf and the tip of the blade sheared through Rjorn's kneepad and straight into the meat and bone of his leg. Rjorn roared in agony as he swung his axe down towards the witch who brought her sword up and severed the Space Wolf's gauntleted hand.

Firing another bolt from his plasma gun, the shot managed to hit the witch and already, her shield flickered from the impact. The alien witch pulled out her sword from the Space Wolf and already she was moving towards Cassius. 'Lorinius!' called the Dark Angel 'get the Governor out of here!'

A moment of indecision passed from the Apothecary who surely must have wanted to stay and help slay this alien. Reluctantly, Lorinius obeyed and he carried the Governor off with him. The witch did not seem to mind and suddenly it began to worry Cassius, before he could call to the White Consul or say anything else, the witch was already upon him with blades flashing towards him.

Cassius barely managed to parry her left-handed sword blade while he tried to dodge the right one which ended up cutting into his power armor and managing to only graze his flesh by a little. Searing exploded near where his hearts were and with dread he realized that the blades were poisoned. Slamming the bottom of the handle of his plasma pistol onto the witch's head he cursed as he struck the damned shield again which had still been weakened by the attacks of the others bur not enough for him to harm the alien.

Bringing his sword down upon the witch, he retracted his blade at the last moment and aimed a thrust at her neck. The alien swiftly brought her left sword up to parry his own while her right one was thrust towards his right leg and the blade cut through his greaves and into his flesh. Roaring in agony as poison began to course through his veins, his genetically enhanced physiology attempted to combat the venom but it proved unsuccessful, as if the poison the witch wielded was specifically made for the blessed Astartes.

Soon his body was wracked in such agony that he we was forced to collapse from it. Hearing the dark mocking laughter of the witch in his ears, he knew now why things seemed a bit too easy. It was a trap, all a trap and now he and his squad were likely to be taken away to whatever nightmare realm they came from.

A strange half-remembered feeling soon came over Cassius amidst the waves of agony. For the first time in centuries, Cassius Martell, once a sergeant of Dark Angels 1st company the Deathwing and one of the Emperor's Angels of Death had just relearned what it meant to know fear…

* * *

Looking back over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued, the Imperial Governor was carried within the crook of his left arm the White Consul's upon his own waist. Hearing a groan from the Governor, Lorinius pressed on further into the tunnels as he sought the main route out.

'By the Emperor…' eventually came the shocked, dry voice of the Governor and the Apothecary glanced down to see that the man was terrified of the space marine. Worried that the stress of what the Governor's captivity have done to the man's health both physical and mental, Lorinius set the man down and began to explain the situation as briefly as he could.

'We… I am here to rescue you and get you home Governor' was all Lorinius said.

'I… I see… thank you…' the man then said quietly as he tried to regain a measure of composure 'please lead the way, let us be rid of this wretched place.' With a nod Lorinius led the way as he handed his bolt pistol to the Governor, the man took it quite easily and he held it with a practiced and competent manner.

'Stay behind me Governor' ordered Lorinius who then turned his back to the Governor as he led the way out of the tunnel. The White Consul did not notice the way the Governor raised his pistol towards the Apothecary, and he did not know until it was too late when the Governor opened fire upon the Space Marine with not only the bolt pistol but also the hidden and highly potent digital weapon cleverly disguised as mere ring.

Before he knew it, Lorinius was shot multiple times in the back with the shot from the digital weapon burning through his armor, flesh and his two hearts like a direct hit from a melta weapon.

* * *

Taking a deep breath and bathing in the exquisite agony as the Mon'keigh suffered from the specialized Toxins within her Venom Blades. Archon Zhalarena felt so much more invigorated from these few humans when compared to the dozens of greenskin slaves she and her Kabal had butchered. It would not be long now she thought with delight for this was just the beginning.

'You certainly quite enjoyed yourself there' came a voice which did not speak through a crude communicator device, but rather within conversational distance. With a coquettish smile forming underneath her helmet, the Archon turned around to see a male clad in an impractically ornate suite of armor which was colored with burnished gold, a helmet of midnight black with red eye lenses. The male removed his helmet to reveal his blood-red hair, his handsome and aristocratic features current expression mirrored that of the Archon's.

'I trust the battle aboard the ship went well? Asked Zhalarena, despite already knowing what his answer would be.

'All captured and even more by how well your warriors restrained themselves' replied the male eldar.

'Perhaps after this business is done we can privately "negotiate" your compensation afterwards…. Eorlianeth' With an appreciative smile from him, she was looking forwards to her "meeting" with Eorlianeth Angsar 'What happened to the Mon'keigh… that Governor one?' asked the Archon.

'Arrangements have been made for his transportation off-world and in time his most triumphant return' he said with a smile. 'I am sure my… "Clients" will be most interested seeing how things within Aegeria will go down soon.'

'How intriguing' purred the Lady Archon for great opportunities would soon arise from the human worlds of Aegeria system, opportunities which the Kabal of the Dreadheart had a little help in engineering.


End file.
